Question 145·Hard·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Front-of-pack traffic-light nutrition labels help consumers triage choices quickly by reducing the effort required to parse dense panels. For measurable population-level change, the system must be standardized across brands and categories and placed uniformly so it becomes a habit to notice. Labels are inexpensive to implement and politically durable, but they are not a substitute for taxes or education; they are scaffolding that makes other policies more navigable. If a city later adopts a sugary-drink tax, labels guide shoppers toward lower-sugar alternatives rather than leaving them to simply pay more for the same products. Over time, as familiarity grows and manufacturers reformulate to avoid red warnings, the benefits of labeling can compound.
Text 2
In a quasi-experimental study of 12 metropolitan grocery chains, we compared beverage purchases 6 months before and 12 months after the introduction of front-of-pack sugar-warning labels. Relative to matched control markets without labels, labeled markets saw a 3% decline in per-capita purchases of high-sugar beverages. Published evaluations of penny-per-ounce soda taxes report first-year reductions of roughly 15%. We infer that taxation would be more effective than labeling for curbing sugary-drink consumption. During our study, however, labeling was voluntary: only 63% of eligible beverages carried labels, and label size and placement varied by brand, sometimes reducing salience. Despite these implementation caveats, the magnitude gap suggests taxes are preferable as a primary policy lever.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely respond to the inference in Text 2 that taxation is preferable to labeling as the primary policy lever?
For cross-text connection questions, first paraphrase the claim in one text (here, Text 2’s inference that taxes are preferable). Then locate the other author’s stated position on the same issue (Text 1: labels must be standardized; labels are not a substitute for taxes; labels help taxes work). Finally, pick the option that reflects how that author would qualify or rebut the inference using their own stated conditions and framing, and eliminate answers that introduce extreme or unsupported positions.
Hints
Find the inference in Text 2
Look at Text 2’s final sentences. What conclusion does the author draw about taxes versus labels as a primary policy tool?
Underline Text 1’s key qualifier
In Text 1, what conditions does the author say are needed for labels to drive population-level change (think standardization and uniform placement)?
Compare Text 2’s implementation to Text 1’s conditions
Text 2 describes voluntary participation and inconsistent label placement/size. Does that match what Text 1 says is necessary for labels to work well?
Choose the option that both qualifies Text 2’s inference and keeps labels and taxes complementary
Eliminate any choice that (a) treats labels as replacing taxes entirely or (b) accepts Text 2’s conclusion without addressing the study’s weak labeling implementation.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify Text 2’s inference
Text 2 reports a 3% decline in high-sugar beverage purchases after sugar-warning labels were introduced (relative to controls) and contrasts this with roughly 15% first-year reductions reported for soda taxes. From that gap, Text 2 infers that taxation is preferable to labeling as the primary policy lever.
Extract Text 1’s stance on labels vs. taxes
Text 1 argues that labels help consumers make quick choices, but for population-level change they must be standardized across brands and categories and placed uniformly so noticing them becomes habitual. Text 1 also explicitly says labels are “not a substitute for taxes or education” and calls them “scaffolding” that makes other policies (like taxes) more navigable.
Use Text 2’s implementation caveats to predict Text 1’s response
Text 2 notes that labeling in the study was voluntary (only 63% coverage) and that label size/placement varied, reducing salience. Those conditions fall short of Text 1’s requirements (standardized, uniform placement), so the author of Text 1 would likely argue the study underestimates what labeling can do when implemented properly and would also emphasize that labels can increase the effectiveness of a later tax by guiding substitution.
Select the choice that matches Text 1’s likely reply
The correct response must (1) challenge the strength of Text 2’s inference given the study’s weak labeling implementation and (2) align with Text 1’s claim that labels complement (not replace) taxes. Only this choice does both:
By contending that the modest effect observed reflects inconsistent, voluntary labeling and that standardized, universal labels would both increase labeling’s impact and strengthen the effectiveness of any subsequent tax